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You Are What You Think
• August 24, 2021
What's Possible starts with a Single Thought!
You are what you think! What does that even mean?!? You are what you THINK? This is a mind bender. Our thoughts are real. Did you know that they actually have mass and weight? Thoughts create our perception of realty. I'm sure you've heard the saying, "Perception is truth".
Today, I want to take some time to explore and share my thoughts on THOUGHTS!
What exactly are thoughts?
Where do they come from?
Do thoughts just happen or can we actually create them?
Can we control what we think?
"Whether you think you can or think you can't, you're right".
Whaaaaaat! How can that be? That means that your thoughts and the way you think will expand or limit what you're able to accomplish simply by the way you choose to think. But so many people are sleep walking through life, unaware that they are literally the author of their own story, aka their life. This is exciting news! No longer do you need to be at the mercy of life's uncontrollable circumstances. You already possess the power within you to write your own ticket. You just need a little know how and direction to get you on the right track!
"The optimist sees the doughnut, the pessimist sees the hole.” – McLandburgh Wilson
Whether you consider yourself to be a positive or negative thinking person, you will look for evidence to support the beliefs that you have created. This is called Confirmation Bias. In other words, we will look for evidence in our external world to validate the thoughts and beliefs in our mind.
What exactly are thoughts?
Where do they come from?
Do thoughts just happen or can we actually create them?
Can we control what we think?
As a Life Coach, one of the most important skills I teach my clients is how to manage their thoughts and feelings. The power of the mind is immeasurable! When we learn how to first become aware of our thoughts, the natural next step is the ability to manage those thoughts. When you understand this concept, your entire life will change. Ultimately, whether we're conscious of it or not, our results in our life are created by our thoughts.
One of my very favorite quotes of all times came from Henry Ford;
"Whether you think you can or think you can't, you're right".
Whaaaaaat! How can that be? That means that your thoughts and the way you think will expand or limit what you're able to accomplish simply by the way you choose to think. But so many people are sleep walking through life, unaware that they are literally the author of their own story, aka their life. This is exciting news! No longer do you need to be at the mercy of life's uncontrollable circumstances. You already possess the power within you to write your own ticket. You just need a little know how and direction to get you on the right track!
So without getting too techy, what exactly are thoughts? If you Google "thoughts", Google's definition is "an idea or opinion produced by thinking or occurring suddenly in the mind." That's rather uninformative! If you take a look at Webster's definition, it is as equally unhelpful and defines it as "to form or have in the mind". Okay, ok .. let's give Mr. Webster some slack. He was pretty busy working on the dictionary and defining over 450,000 words, so we'll cut him a break on this lack luster description of what a thought really is.
A THOUGHT is a map of the body's relation to its external environment. A thought is a representation of the things that are perceived by our senses, felt through our emotions or formed through our actions and experiences. It's the spark within us that strives to make sense of the world we live in and creates the complex blueprint that gives us our interpretation of our world!
That leads us to the next question, where do thoughts come from? Again .. I'm not planning to get too "sciency" with this. I just want to introduce you to the fact that we, as human beings, have A LOT going on upstairs. Our amazing minds have the ability to interpret, store and create through the firing of billions (yes .. that's with a B) of nerve cells which transmit impulses, ideas and images from our external environment to our internal system. Essentially, our thoughts are our perception of our world. No two people will EVER perceive the world exactly the same. If we reinforce a specific thought enough times, (not sure exactly how many times, but enough times), that thought becomes a belief. A belief is just a thought that we've practiced so much that it requires very little energy to just automatically think it. The neuropathway (the highway of the brain) is so well established and we've practiced it so often that the belief is simply accepted as our truth, which leads us into the next question to ponder. Do thoughts just happen or can we intentionally create thoughts?
The first part of this quandary is that while thoughts do "happen", it's still an inside job. We are constantly exposed to an ever changing world, now more than ever!! Thoughts don't happen to us but from within us. We create thoughts based on our ability to interpret the external world in whatever way we choose. I'm sure you've met both positive and negative people. How someone chooses to look at the world is based on the filter the look through.
"The optimist sees the doughnut, the pessimist sees the hole.” – McLandburgh Wilson
Whether you consider yourself to be a positive or negative thinking person, you will look for evidence to support the beliefs that you have created. This is called Confirmation Bias. In other words, we will look for evidence in our external world to validate the thoughts and beliefs in our mind.
The more self aware someone is, the more intentional one can be with creating thoughts, ideas and beliefs that will serve. Did you know that as adults, we have about 65,000 thoughts a day??? 65 THOUSAND!! And no. I did not accidently add an extra zero. Just as interesting, of those tens of thousands of daily thoughts, 95% of them are unconscious meaning that most of our thoughts stay hidden away like dust bunnies in the corners of the hallway closet. We're just simply unaware of all of them. Now remember .. thoughts are not truths. They are just judgments that we make about the world around us so we can try to make sense of things. We often create "thought errors". A thought error is a faulty interpretation of information received. For example, if you're in class and you get a test back and get a C but all your classmates did well, you may begin to think that you're not smart. If you reinforce that idea enough, it will not only become how you see yourself, but may become your personal reality. The late Wayne Dyer said, "Change the way you look at things and the things you look at change.” In other words, be willing to question your thoughts and beliefs because how you interpreted the world as a child will be very different as an adult. Again .. this is worth repeating .. Thoughts are just interpretations, not truth.
This brings me to my last question .. Can we control what we think? Since our thoughts are generated from all the stimuli in our exterior world, we may not be able to control everything that comes through our filter, but we can certainly sift through all the data and choose to reconstruct it in a way that will better serve us. How we choose to think about things IS definitely something we can manage and control. It will take practice (LOTS OF PRACTICE) and a willingness to ask yourself if your thoughts are true, but it can absolutely be done. Our ability to create complex thoughts about the world that we live in is what sets us a part from most living creatures. Just remember .. thoughts are free! Choose the ones you really like because you really are what you think. :)
Have an amazing week! And remember .. What's Possible Starts with a Single Thought!
This week I was reflecting on how self hate has almost become common place with people .. especially kids, which is heart breaking. We are born complete and whole. We don't have to do anything to earn Worthiness or Enoughness .. we just are. If you believe in a higher power, then you know there are no mistakes. Perhaps a divergent pattern that doesn't resemble the others, but just because it's not like the others doesn't make it wrong or defective. Every human being is an essential piece of the universal puzzle. Just take a moment, give yourself a little grace and know that when you constantly look at yourself with such a critical eye, that you're missing the intrinsic beauty of you just being you. I thought I'd share something that I wrote .. It's about seeing yourself for who you really are. Have a beautiful week and just be You . Remember, you were born whole, complete and enough. The Magic Wand From a distance I see you in the river of your tears Holding you under from the weight of your fears "I can't do this!" you scream into the night "There's nothing about me that ever seems right!" I hear your whispers swirling in your head The hurtful things that are constantly said If only a magic wand I had in my hand I'd touch your crown, and a new thought could land Suddenly your eyes wide open to what I can see The veil finally lifted, with certainty you'd agree Your inner beauty revealed so radiant, so true Completely washing all self doubt away from you The creative Genius that quietly lives within A new relationship would finally begin Now peer into the pool to see your reflection What is revealed is pure perfection Trust that you're here as your Maker intended All self judgment permanently suspended Have your own back whenever you fall Be your own best friend once and for all It's time to love all of you even when it's tough You're worthy and beautiful .. so completely enough! Until next week, sending so much love your way! xo Jeanna
This week I wanted to talk about how self limiting beliefs show up in our lives like sneaky little gremlins hiding in the closets of our minds. I think it's easy enough to identify the big mind monsters. You know .. anything that our Comparison Queen or King tells us, which always relates to the Lack of Enoughness category . "I'm not good enough, smart enough, pretty enough, skinny enough" statements. Comparing yourself to others never leads to anything warm and fuzzy or a productive outcome. What I want to talk about are some of the sneakier things we come to believe that on the surface seem fairly harmless. These little gremlins are the thoughts we often accept as being true and unchangeable. The real truth is that these little sentences can deteriorate your confidence and self worth over time. Learning some new power thoughts will literally change the course and direction of your life! So, as you can imagine, I think today's topic can be a real game changer! Have you ever stopped to consider the only thing holding you back from achieving your dreams is YOU and your THOUGHTS?!? Not your education, status, gender, or any other reason you might be able to come up with. It's the relationship you have with YOU! As I've shared with you before, a thought is just a sentence in your head. It just starts out as a baby spark without much to it. The power of a thought is based on how often you think it. And if you've been following me, you already know we have A LOT of thoughts dancing around up there in our noodles. The adult mind has about 65,000 thoughts a day, so it's a pretty busy place. Imagine if we hear and then think just one of those thoughts over and over again? A thought like, "this is hard." Now keep in mind, it is normal for our minds to gravitate towards negative thinking. It's one of the ways we stay alert to danger. It becomes a problem when we turn that negative thinking against ourselves. Those thoughts actually becomes the enemy within holding us back and tripping us up along the way. Today, we're going to talk about how we become self limiting in the first place, the five gremlins we need to tame and the super thoughts we can use to move from paralysis and doubt to freedom and success. The first big question we need to explore is where do self limiting beliefs come from? It actually starts at a very young age. From the time we start to interact with other humans, we're interpreting the meaning of our world. Did you know that a toddler hears the words "no" or "can't" 3 times as often as "yes" or "you can"? Just by nature, our parents are limiting our actions and our natural desire to explore. Of course, it's coming from a good place. They want to make sure we don't get hurt or put our baby selves in a dangerous situation. As children, we rely on the people around us to guide us and keep us safe. How that message is delivered isn't always done in the most supportive or positive way. Over time, the messages we receive become an accepted way of thinking and believing. And for kids, the things their parents say become their truth. But a belief is just the story that we've accepted over time. You've heard it and thought it so often that it just becomes an automatic way of thinking. A belief is not a truth. It's simply a judgment about your world, how you're experiencing it and what you need to do to stay safe. If those beliefs or stories are never questioned, how would you know that the way you're thinking is limiting your ability to show up in your life? It's like having invisible handcuffs on. Before we can begin to change our limiting beliefs and manage our minds, we need to question the things we're telling ourselves. It takes self-awareness, effort and practice. But it can be done. Let's explore five self limiting thoughts you may tell yourself without realizing it. I also included some examples of the possible emotions that get we might feel when we're thinking these things. The little two word sentence, "I can't" or "you can't" is the #1 cause of killing dreams. Fear and anxiety are normal human emotions. What if we decided that we CAN even if we're scared. Below are 5 self limiting beliefs that get in our way of being the best version of ourselves. Begin to question your beliefs and thoughts to make room for better ones. Those uncomfortable thoughts create uncomfortable feelings, which is just energy and vibrations, bouncing around in our bodies. When you give yourself permission to feel uncomfortable, you will begin to set yourself free. 1. Thought: I can't Resulting Emotions: anxiety, fear 2. Thought: I should/shouldn't Resulting Emotions: shame, judgment 3. Thought: I have to Resulting Emotions: resentment, anger 4. Thought: I don't know Resulting Emotions: confusion, doubt 5. Thought: It's just the way I am Resulting Emotions: defeat, sadness Ask yourself, are some of these self limiting gremlins causing havoc and interfering with your ability to get out of your own way? It's important to understand that the way you think impacts the way you feel and drives your actions, or in many cases our inactions. You're limiting your ability to create the life you dream of. Below are some super thoughts that will always empower you to move forward, even if it feels uncomfortable or odd. 1. New thought: This is easy Resulting Emotions: confident, calm 2. New thought: God/universe is working for me Resulting Emotions: determined, motivated 3. New thought: I can do hard things Resulting Emotions: Fearless, Courageous 4. New thought: I choose to/I want to Resulting Emotions: Empowered, Excited 5. New thought: I trust Resulting Emotions: Trusting, Present I always tell my clients that thoughts are free. Choose the ones that help you to be who you want to be. My favorite thought is "I can do hard things." Life was never intended to be without its challenges. That's what makes being human so interesting! If you choose thoughts with intention and lean into them, you will be amazed at what you're able to accomplish! As always .. make it a beautiful week and thanks for tuning in. Next week I plan to talk about Self Loathing and when did this become so trendy and noble? Remember! What's possible starts with a single thought! So think beautiful good thoughts. Until next week, sending so much love your way! xo Jeanna
